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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24439066">Anytime You Smile</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesperione/pseuds/Vesperione'>Vesperione</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>TGWDLM fics [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Death, F/M, Infected, M/M, Songfic, The Apotheosis - Freeform, based on We Happy Few as in the game, i really put paul through it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:02:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24439066</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesperione/pseuds/Vesperione</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They hired Emma to attempt to find a cure while her leg recovered. She was the one to come up with the formula. She was also the one to test it in the epicentre of the infection. With a very stressed Lieutenant back at HQ, can Emma complete her mission or not?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins, Xander Lee/John McNamara (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>TGWDLM fics [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1345960</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Anytime You Smile</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I guess I'm the ceo of fanfics based upon songs now aren't i, and this one in particular was based around Anytime You Smile by JT Music, which was made about the game We Happy Few which is amazing, may I add, but as usual, I hope you enjoy this book/chapter/i don't usually post books mid day so this is new for me. Anything in italics is the infected singing, but that's pretty self explanatory.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Emma wished she could say that her constant knowledge of biology from her community college classes she hardly payed attention in were finally paying off, but they weren’t. Not as well as she hoped it would, at least. She was helping PEIP to develop a cure for the apotheosis. It had happened three weeks ago as of that current day, and she’d had to leave Paul behind on the island of Hatchetfield so she could get to safety. It wasn’t as if she’d wanted to willingly leave him behind, but it was by force if anything. She wouldn’t ever admit it fully to herself, but she gained a crush on him in the time period where he came into Beanies. Zoey teased her about it and tried to encourage her to grab a date with him, but it never worked. She was hoping they could have seen that silent movie, and she was losing hope fast. Until today.</p><p>She held up the orange vial and gasped as she spun around, tapping Lieutenant Lee on the shoulder. “Sir, look! It works! I’ve studied the strand and if you see here, in the dish, the traces of the apotheosis are eliminated. We’ll need to keep the infected in quarantine, but we can either turn this into a pill, which can be done simply, or we can put this in syringes and inject it straight into the veins of the salvaged.”</p><p>The Lieutenant took the vial and inspected it, nodding. “I’ll organise troops right away. Miss Perkins, seeing as you know the drug better than anyone else, I suggest you take the lead.” And with that, he left. Emma blinked to ground herself. She didn’t want to work for the military, and she wouldn’t…as soon as Paul was back as Paul, she’d get them both to Colorado, far away from Hatchetfield.</p><hr/><p>It was the day after when she was placed in the centre of Hatchetfield, about a hundred vials of the cure. This would be the testing phase, and she’d left the instructions with Lieutenant Lee in case the cure did work, which it <em>would</em> and everything would be okay. PEIP were working on a cover up, and the Lieutenant had put himself on the job. He was still dealing with the loss of his husband, and that was the only side to the man Emma had ever known. It didn’t matter. Alongside her was Colonel Schaffer who addressed the areas the agents needed to fill. Hopefully they didn’t fuck it up.</p><p>She shook the vial she was holding in her hand and watched the clear liquid turn orange. She looked at the tracking device as she walked through the ghost-town that she once knew as Hatchetfield. She wished she could say nothing had changed, but <em>everything</em> had. Nothing was the same. Houses were ripped to shreds, rubble lay on the roads untouched. Everything was eerily still apart from the soft hum and the blue haze that rose and fell to match the pattern of the low song that surrounded her.</p><p>She headed towards the Starlight Theatre. She’d seen a few shows there, each of which being utterly pathetic and a waste of money, but her and her friends had seen them as a joke, and she didn’t regret it. Then she lost her friends and her life started heading downhill. She swallowed the memory and pushed it to the depths of her mind as she pushed open the heavy door and went to the main stage, where the blue haze was stronger. Shards of the purple-grey meteor scattered the floor. She thought she was alone. She let her shoulders sink; she couldn’t be alone. She needed for there to be a swarm of them, of the infected, or else this job would be meaningless. As she was about to turn around and head back to continue her search, she heard footsteps on the stage. “Emma?” Emma looked back up and saw him. His blazer was ripped, and there was a stream of blue blood falling down his face, and she staggered back. “No, Emma, wait! Let me explain!”</p><p>“I’m armed!” She shouted, but he jumped down from the stage and ran in front of her, stopping.</p><p>“Why are you here?” There wasn’t a note in his voice. He was speaking regularly. She stared into his vibrant blue eyes. “Please, Emma, it isn’t safe. You need to get back to safety. You need to leave me behind.”</p><p>“Paul, I have a cure.” She said, near enough mesmorised by his eyes. She watched Paul swallow before he looked back to her.</p><p>“I don’t want it.”</p><p>“What?” She said and looked up to him, shocked at his response.</p><p>“Don’t you understand?” He said and his neck twitched. “<em>All we do is smile daily, helps to hide the side that’s crazy, happiness became a choice when hope came in and gave us joy.”</em></p><p>“Paul, stop singing-“ Emma said, but he grabbed her and spun her round so her back was pressed against his stomach. She slid the cure into her belt and secured it so it wouldn’t get damaged. He held her shoulders and began to sway, turning her to face the stage.</p><p>“<em>Oh, Buttercup! The sun is comin’ up! But all we need is love, keepin’ us comfy and warm!” </em>He said and continued to dance with her, tilting his head to look at her, smiling with his teeth, which were stained a light blue. He let go of her and wiped the blood off his arm with his sleeve, staining it. “<em>Long as I’m with you!” </em>She went to grab the cure again, but he grabbed her hand before she could move. It must have been something in the air, but she felt lyrics fill her head. Before she could understand how to stop, words were spilling out of her mouth.</p><p>“<em>A little rain and clouds will never bring me down. Take my hand, and we’ll dance through the heart of the storm!” </em>She sang as Paul pulled her roughly towards the stage. She stumbled over her feet, her leg threatening to collapse. She winced as she began to feel a slight amount of buzz in her veins. Were these the early stages of becoming infected? She noticed Paul caught a glimpse of her obvious frown and shook his head. “<em>I know we’ll get through.”</em></p><p>“<em>That silly frown, I’ll flip around until you smile so wide for me. Those pearly whites!” </em>He continued to sing, his smile becoming more menacing. There were a few other people on stage now, a few she didn’t recognise, some she did, such as Nora, and Zoey. He tugged her more toward the stage, and she’d have fought against his tight grip around her hands if it wasn’t for her mind becoming distorted by these spores in the room.</p><p>“<em>We’ll hit the town, rainbows around. Your love can never hide from me, now that you’re mine</em>.” She continued as he guided her on stage. He took both of her hands and smiled, blood trickling down his face.</p><p>“<em>Let me mask your sadness, I can make happiness a choice!” </em>Emma knew what he was inferring. Their studies had concluded that, now the meteor was gone, the guy to destroy the source of the apotheosis, which would be Paul, became the new hive mind….and he wanted her to assist him. She shook her head, but her actions quickly went against her yet again. She felt her leg twitch in a dancing manner as she sang again.</p><p>“<em>You won’t have any tears left to shed, when your heart is filled with joy!” </em>She snapped out of her trance and pulled away from Paul, backing against the wall, desperate to stop this infection from overtaking her. While she had control, she hit her watch. “Lieutenant, we’ve got a man going down.”</p><p>“Emma, what do you mean?”</p><p>The Lieutenant sounded frustrated on the other end of the line. She swallowed and clicked the button. “They got me.” That seemed to please the infected as they burst into song again. The lot of them, dancing and singing together in a strange chorus directed towards her.</p><p>“<em>Anytime you smile, baby. You know you drive me wild, crazy! That’s why you got me screamin’! I think I might be dreamin’. Let me see you smile, baby. You know how low I’ve been flyin’ lately. Believe me if I’m dreamin’, I wanna keep on sleepin’.” </em></p><p>The hive seemed to be pleased she was giving into her battles. She could hear Paul’s thoughts invading her own, tempting her with peace and <em>only</em> peace. The inability of the fear of what would be her end, how she’d get everything she wanted, how they could be together and take over the world. How the world would follow their rules, no. <em>Her </em>rules, and people wouldn’t have a choice <em>but</em> to obey. Emma bit her lip. Maybe this wasn’t a sacrifice, and maybe this was for the better. But she unzipped her belt again and pulled out the syringe from the pocket.</p><p>“<em>I’ll ride this high all night, might never come back down!” </em>Paul sang again, skipping over to her and grabbing her hand again, a sharp pain overtaking her left hand. She winced, and nearly as quick as the pain appeared, it vanished.</p><p>“<em>I don’t quite act like myself when my head’s not in the clouds!” </em>She broke away from Paul’s grasp, desperate now. Her radio was crackling, and somewhere distant she could hear the Lieutenant’s voice, but she couldn’t decipher what he was saying. This was bone-chilling, and she hated it…but she was intrigued. She shouldn’t be, but the euphoria Paul was suggesting made the hive seem worth it. No more pain or panic, and everyone would love her. Everything would work out, and they’d be the rulers. Paul pulled her to the centre of the stage as the rest of the members in the room bowed before them. He got on one knee and smiled up at her.</p><p>“<em>Someday soon this honeymoon might be gone though. I hate goodbyes.” </em>He looked to her for the answer. She didn’t resist the lyrics the second time around.</p><p>“<em>I might not love you still. You’ll find no tougher pill to swallow.” </em>And then, after she’d sang, she felt a crack, like a break, and she was free again. “Open your eyes!” She shouted to them. Her voice echoed around the empty theatre as she noticed the infected bowing were frozen in time and place, but Paul wasn’t.</p><p>“But…I don’t really feel like singing anymore…I’m not jiving with the vibes, they ain’t swinging anymore.” He looked up to Emma and jumped up on to his feet. He held her shoulders, his eyes his usual blue instead of that electric shade. “Can you tell me what the hell’s gone around here lately.” It wasn’t a question, but a plea.</p><p>“Paul, while we have chance, give me your wrist.”</p><p>“Why?” Paul asked and looked at her as she produced the orange vial. “What <em>is</em> that?!”</p><p>“For 21 days I’ve been working alongside General McNamara’s husband and we finally produced a cure. Paul, listen to me. If you take this cure, we’ll be free from the hive. You’re the answer to the downfall of the apotheosis. You didn’t want to be a part of this fucked up musical. You know that.” She reached up to cup his cheek, flinching at the pain in her left hand. “Just give me your hand.” She watched him hesitate as he held his wrist out, muttering nonsense to himself.</p><p>“Something’s off, not to be a downer, baby, I stepped into a nightmare when I woke up from utopia. Starting to remember my depression and my phobias.” He looked around frantically, not even noticing the other members staring at him now. “Why is everybody looking at me like I’ve lost it?!” He shouted as Emma finished injecting the liquid in. Paul immediately jumped back and examined the situation before he started fighting the cure…or the infection, Emma couldn’t tell which. “Maybe if I keep singing, I can make them stop it! <em>Shoop-doo-wop!”</em></p><p><em>“Shoop-doo-wop!” </em>The other members of the infected sang, mimicking Paul’s actions.</p><p>“Can someone shut this music off!” Paul screamed, covering his ears, sinking to the ground. Emma stood back and watched, unable to do anything else.</p><p>“Just take your pill!” Ted offered to him, to which Paul shook his head again.</p><p>“I’m choosing not!”</p><p>“Is something wrong?” Nora asked, raising an eyebrow, watching her hive leader freak out.</p><p>“Nope! <em>Shoop-doo-wop!” </em>He said and collected himself, his entire body shaking in uncontrollable bursts. He looked to Emma for assistance, and Emma nodded. This was what had happened in his studies. This was all going to plan. The downfall of the hive would soon be inevitable.</p><p>“Misery loves company, anyone wanna join?!” Hidgens shouted from the other end of the stage, looking directly at Emma, another syringe in his hand full of the blue liquid she’d been stabbed with once before. She bit back, snarling at her old biology professor.</p><p>“I’d rather have reality than simply swallow joy!” She shouted, not noticing Paul’s panicking getting worse until she looked back down to him.</p><p>“But unless I’m acting pleased, it’ll be the end of me! How can I be happy here? Guess I’ll just pretend to be!” He laughed nervously as the rest of the ensemble lurched towards him, Paul tripping over his own feet as he ran over to Emma for assistance.</p><p>“<em>Anytime you smile, baby! You know you drive me wild, crazy! That’s why you got me screamin’! I think I might be dreamin’!” </em>They danced over to Paul and Emma. Paul took Emma’s hand and ran over to the other side of the stage with her, Emma wincing due to the pressure on her leg. “<em>Let me see you smile, baby. You know how low I’ve been flyin’ lately. Believe me if I’m dreamin’, I wanna keep on sleepin’!” </em>As Paul held Emma close to him, his eyes dulling back to the softer blue for good, the infected stopped singing, appearing to glitch out.</p><p><em>“We require smiles daily, helps to hide your side that’s crazy.” </em>They pointed directly at Paul. “<em>Happiness is not a choice, now open wide and take your joy!” </em>One of them grabbed Paul away from Emma, the smaller girl screaming Paul’s name as the pushed him to the ground, hovering over him as he curled up into a ball, swarming him.</p><p>“No, no, no no no no!” Paul screamed, covering his head, until he appeared to burst out of the crowd. “<em>No more sadness, in this beautiful world! In love with happiness!” </em>He turned back to Emma, looking her in the eyes, folding his arms tight across his chest, his eyes back to that sickening blue she thought she’d eliminated. “<em>She’s a beautiful girl.” </em>The infected seemed to be pleased they had their leader back and returned to following his orders.</p><p><em>“Anytime you smile, baby! You know you got me wild, crazy! That’s why you got me screamin’! I think I might be dreamin’.” </em>While Emma tried to grab another syringe, two members she didn’t recognise grabbed her arms and dragged her into Paul’s grasp as they continued to song. He took her into his arms and ducked her into a kiss that she tried to fight, but the sensation of the slime trickling down the back of her throat disgusted her, but she knew this was her end. She didn’t fight it anymore. She let it happen.</p><p>“<em>Let me see you smile, baby. You know how low I’ve been flyin’ lately. Believe me if I’m dreamin! I wanna keep on sleepin’!” </em></p><p>As the crowd moved away from the leaders, they awaited to see the results. Paul helped Emma stand back up, and she realised she was filled with glee. She didn’t have to worry anymore, and everything else except the song in her mind was distant and muffled. She looked to her followers and grinned, her teeth the same blue as the rest of them, her eyes flashing to the same colour as Paul’s. She’d gone to retrieve the infected citizens and bring them back to life, but she found something much better on this mission instead. She peered around before taking Paul’s hand, looking into his eyes, and in a soft hum, she sang, “<em>just smile.” </em>Those became the last words of Emma Perkins, and she was never heard from again. They thought they could retrieve the infected, but were unsuccessful. Even with a cure, they were proven wrong.</p><p>They left the infected in quarantine on Hatchetfield and didn’t attempt to find another cure. Their final hope hadn’t worked. Nothing was going to work.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this song is catchy wtf and WOWOO colour theory</p></blockquote></div></div>
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